Benefits February 22, 2006

FedEx Settles on Dreadlock Discrimination Charges

February 22, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced that Federal Express Corporation has agreed to a settlement in a case involving several former employees who were fired for refusing to cut their dreadlocks.
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According to the press release on Spitzer’s Web site, the employees wore their hair in dreadlocks as an expression of their religious beliefs, but were fired for a violation of the company’s Personal Appearance Policy.

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During the course of discovery, Spitzer’s office learned that FedEx Express had voluntarily addressed many of the concerns underlying the lawsuit. Most importantly, including revising its Personal Appearance Policy to allow employees to request an exemption from the policy based on religious reasons, according to the release.

Per the settlement agreement, FedEx Express will make further minor adjustments to its Personal Appearance Policy, better inform managerial employees about responding to requests for religious accommodation, and periodically inform the Attorney General’s office about its handling of requests for accommodation involving the wearing of dreadlocks.

Benefits February 21, 2006

Societe Generale Object of Sex Harassment Lawsuit

February 21, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Male employees at the New York office of French Bank Societe Generale made numerous inappropriate sexual remarks at the office, shared pornography at work and brought in sex toys to the workplace, a lawsuit has alleged.
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The suit, filed by former employee Kristin Polidori, charged that she was eventually fired when she complained about the atmosphere and what she called harassing behavior directed at her by colleagues in the company’s trade reconciliation department, Reuters reported.

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According to the lawsuit, Polidori’s boss, Steven Schiraldi, brought one sex toy into the office on Valentine’s Day 2005 and showed it to Polidori, an entry level employee fresh out of college who was making about $40,000 a year.

Schiraldi then allegedly offered to lend the device to Polidori, telling her he “would wash it off” first. Bernadette Panzella, Polidori’s attorney, told Reuters some of the sexual comments were captured on tape because the young woman began bringing a recorder disguised as a pen into the office as the harassment intensified.

When Polidori reported the harassment, the suit said the company fired Schiraldi, but failed to investigate other managers and co-workers “in a transparent attempt to insulate (SocGen) from plaintiff’s claims.”

Not only that, the suit charged, but the bank also demanded that Polidori go back to work in the department where the harassment had taken place, “transfer to a job 20 feet away” or resign.

The company, France’s second-largest publicly traded bank, insists Polidori was not fired but rather abandoned her job. It said it asked her to return to work after the investigation was complete and offered her “several alternative and comparable positions” at the company.

“Regretfully, she refused to return to work,” SocGen said in a statement.

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